These are the areas of life where preparation is necessary. And of these, anything related to your finances should rise to the top of the list.

That said, it's often difficult to know what to expect on visiting a financial services professional.

The entire concept often feels rather intimidating. In large part, this has to do with the seriousness and importance of financial topics. The professionals involved often take it just as seriously as one would hope, and this tends to lend a certain gravitas to the environment. That can make it feel a little intimidating at first.

However, one should remember that taking it seriously isn't a negative. One's financial future is serious business. And the fact that said business is taking it seriously is a good sign. Instead of being intimidated it's important to look at it as a reminder. It's a way of telling someone that it's time to really focus on the seriousness of the situation and what can be gained from it.

You're A Part Of The Process

And when focusing on the situation, there's something you should remember. The financial institution is essentially working for you. You're paying them for a service. That means that you're the one who should be in control of the process. Again, the atmosphere can feel somewhat intimidating at first. But it's important to remember that you're essentially the one guiding the process. If you're there about financial planning then that should be among the first things on the table.

That said, people at a financial institution aren't mind readers. They're there to help in any way possible, and they should have considerable expertise to provide to clients. But they need to know about their clients concerns and goals in order to properly meet expectations. As such, you should make sure that you plainly explain exactly what it is you're hoping to get out of the discussion.

The First Steps

Working with financial service professionals usually begins with a general concern. Probably the most common motivator involves retirement. There's a certain point in life where people start to really consider their golden years.

When retirement is an abstract concept, it's usually reassuring. It's a time to just relax and enjoy the world. But as it becomes a more concrete reality the concerns of any life-changing experience takes hold. People usually begin to wonder if they're going to be able to retire as soon as they would wish. Some might wonder if they'll be able to retire at all. And this is when they decide to look for advice. Retirement concerns are common to the point where it becomes a useful example.

Different people will obviously have different needs. But the general process of seeking financial planning tends to go along similar lines. As such, one can easily extrapolate from an example of someone planning for retirement.

Meeting And Planning For Different Strategies

Going with the retirement example, one would go in with well-defined retirement goals. It's important to have these goals well defined so that the professionals can plan for them. After discussing what one is hoping to accomplish the real process will begin.

There will typically be some discussions on strategies for saving money. For example, using a zero-based budget. But one should expect this to go into fairly extensive detail.

Scope Of Discussion

The discussion will usually go into almost every aspect of one's life that involves money. As such, the more documentation one has at hand the better. In the age of electronics, this can be a fairly simple process. If one tends to file taxes electronically, for example, it's often easily available online.

It's a good idea to see if one can access those files so that they're ready if needed. There's seldom need to print them out in advance unless specifically asked to do so. But it's still a good idea to have them available electronically. If they're needed, then it can save an additional visit later on.

From there, a real plan can begin to take form. And this is one of the most important things to keep in mind. Most aspects of financial planning involve long-term decisions. In fact, most professionals recommend planning for retirement as early as possible. And the same goes for any other large financial event in the future.

You’ve seen the insurance commercials featuring the “Mayhem” character. The main theme of those commercials is that you never know when disaster is going to strike and that’s why you need insurance. The same thing is true in the legal world as well. Many of those same situations in the commercials will also require you to have a lawyer on hand to help you sort everything out. At the very least, you should have a plan in place; far too many people have endured the unfortunate fate of losing their entire savings when struck by an accident or disaster.

Below are a few scenarios when having legal help ready sure won't do you any harm, and could potentially save you from an enormous, unnecessary bill. Having at least a basic relationship with some legal representation like Acclaim Legal Services can always put the mind at ease instead of starting from scratch once something happens.

Automobile Accidents

Do you know what to do when you get into an accident on the road? Do you know whether or not you are at fault (and how to figure that out)? You should, obviously, know to stay on the scene until insurance information has exchanged hands and the police have arrived to take statements; many people have unknowingly admitted fault, guaranteeing a huge bill to pay that might not have been necessary at all.

The combination of auto accidents and money is an issue that has plagued the unprepared for decades; do you know what to do if you hit a parked car? Do you know what to do when your parked car has been hit and there’s no sign of the person who did it? Knowing your legal recourse in these situations can be calming and help you figure out which steps to take first, and knowing that your savings will be safe from a huge legal payment.

Personal Accidents

Have you gotten hurt? Is it someone else’s fault? How do you know? You’ve undoubtedly heard about the person who slips on an icy patch of sidewalk in front of someone’s house and then sues the homeowner for failing to salt properly. You don’t want that to happen to you!

An unfortunate is that this happens all the time; people always want more money, and you could find yourself in the middle of a huge lawsuit if you're not prepared. You also don’t want to attempt something like that with someone else if you aren’t absolutely sure that you have the law on your side.

Another area in which this is important is when you get hurt while on the job. Work-related injuries have their own sets of laws and you should familiarize yourself with at least the basics. You could be entitled to a huge sum, or at the very least, some type of monetary and financial benefits.

Lawsuits

Many companies and business owners are stunned when they discover they're being sued; what are you supposed to do if you get served with legal papers? Do you know who to call first? Do you have a plan in place for what to do if you get sued or called to be a witness in another lawsuit? This is where having the number of a good legal clinic if you don’t have an attorney on retainer can be helpful. If not, you might end up broke just because you were too slow to act.

To this end, what do you do when you have been wronged by someone and want to take them to court over it? Do you know how to get a lawsuit started? Being smart with your money doesn't mean suing everyone and everything that causes you discomfort or inconvenience – lawsuits are a messy and complicated business, and you don't want to find yourself winning a lawsuit, only to discover it cost your entire fortune to win.

These are just three of the areas in which having at least a basic knowledge of how the law works is a good idea. These are also situations in which having a lawyer’s number in your phone would be quite handy indeed. Make sure that (if nothing else) you know how to properly respond to each of them, what your rights are in each of these situations and whether or not you need to have your attorney present before you say anything out loud.

You may have never heard of economist and wealth manager Harry Dent but many students of the economy have. Harry Dent wrote, The Great Boom Ahead, which predicted the financial bull market of the 1990’s. He also predicted that the 2000s would see the Dow Jones Industrial Average soar to 40,000 but later revised that down in 2006. His predictions are often extreme but for those who believe that history repeats itself, it would be irresponsible to dismiss his predictions as the words of a dooms day profit. He believes that it won’t be long before the world economies will have a financial meltdown not seen since the Great Depression.

What do you need to know about the details of his forecasts and how dire are they? If he’s right, what should you do to protect yourself against this complete meltdown of the world monetary system? Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Harry Dent

Harry Dent has taken his share of criticism. Although there are a lot of people who make dire predictions in order to get a little face time with the financial media, Dent has years of research to support his claims. Not all of his predictions have panned out but the research behind those predictions is studied by best of the world’s economists.

One of his best known theories has to do with long term spending habits. He believes that once a person has kids their spending picks up and once their children graduate from college spending turns to paying down debt and saving for retirement. According to Dent, spending peaks at an average age of 50 years old. He believes that the baby boomer generation had an average peak of spending in 2009 which represents that top of the stock market for the foreseeable future.

His Predictions

To sum up his ideas, the only reason we haven’t seen a complete economic meltdown is because the United States Federal Reserve continues to print money and artificially stimulate the economy but the banking crisis has left so many consumers and businesses drowning in debt that there is no amount of stimulus that can allow the economy to recover. The only way to recover, according to Dent, is to allow it to correct without the help of artificial stimulus.

Another one of Harry Dent’s theories is that when a bubble bursts, it returns to its pre-bubble level. This, according to him would put the Dow Jones Industrial Average at 3,600 to 5,000. He also sees gold correcting to a price of $400 to $500 per troy ounce and home prices falling significantly more. Florida, Dent’s state of residence may see home prices fall as much as 30% to 35% before the bottom emerges. Finally, he believes that unemployment could rise to as much as 15%. If his predictions are true, this would represent a crisis not seen since the Great Depression. He believes that all of this could begin as early as 2012.

What Can You Do?

If he’s right, first he suggests selling your home and renting until the crisis comes and goes. He also believes that now isn’t the time to believe that the markets will recover if you need money for retirement. Once the crash starts, demand that your financial adviser pull your money out of the market and in to ultra-safe investments. Once the markets bottom out, it may represent the buying opportunity of your life.

Bottom Line

His critics are quick to point out that Harry Dent has made his fair share of incorrect predictions. He may be too severe in his forecast but it’s hard to argue that with the amount of debt held by governments and even more important, individual households presents a problem. Unless the government can find a way to get household debt to a manageable level nationwide, there is very little that can be done to prevent a meltdown. Most economists agree that further stimulus of the financial markets may be detrimental to the markets.

Do you believe Mr. Dent? If you do, you’re not alone. Let’s hope that he’s wrong.

There is no way to be completely prepared for a disaster. However, you can do your best to prepare yourself financially for an emergency that could cause you problems. If you haven't thought about it in the past, think about it now. Recent events, from large scale natural disasters (such as the earthquake in Japan) to man made problems (like last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico) can impact your income, as well as prevent you from accessing your money. You need to be ready for these situations.

Build Up an Emergency Fund

An emergency fund is there for…emergencies. You should build one up so that you are prepared. Your emergency fund can help you pay for repairs not covered by insurance, and it can also help you offset other costs that might be related to a natural disaster. Another reason an emergency fund is important is that your income might be interrupted by a disaster. What happens if you can't get to work? Or if the disaster results in you being laid off altogether? If some sort of catastrophe knocked out the Internet in my locale, I'd experience a severe drop in income. An emergency fund can help you avoid complete financial disaster in such circumstances. Take some time to get your finances in order, and start an emergency fund.

Keep Emergency Cash at Home

As nice as an emergency fund is, you should realize that power outages and interruptions in the banking system can limit access to your money. An earthquake once made it impossible for me to get my money via ATM for two days. Realize, too, that a lack of power or downed phone lines can mean that using a credit card might be out. Have a stash of cash at home, kept in a safe place. Don't use it for every day expenses; instead, save it for when you really need it. Consider three days' worth of cash to complement your 72-hour kit.

Know Important Numbers, And Protect Your Financial Documents

In addition to making sure that you have access to liquid funds, you need to consider your financial documents, and your financial accounts. Keep a list of financial account numbers and contact information for insurance policies, retirement plans, bank accounts, loans and credit cards. This list should be kept someplace safe and secure, along with hard copies of documents, such as insurance policies, loan papers, car and home titles, passports and birth/marriage certificates. A waterproof fire safe is one of the best options for these papers. You can even keep some of your emergency cash stash in the safe. That way, your most important information is safe guarded.

What If You Have to Leave?

Your next concern should be whether or not you have to leave. Your emergency stash of cash should be easy to get to, so that you can take it with you. Account numbers and other information should also be taken with you, just in case you need to get in touch with representatives of different companies. Have a 72-hour kit prepared for each member of your family (or create a family kit), and keep it somewhere accessible. These are things you need to grab and take with you in addition to cash and financial account information. You also need identification (if you have a passport, bring it along) and insurance cards.

Make sure everything you need is in a central location so that you can just grab it and go.

We buy insurance policies to financially protect us should something go wrong. Most people would argue that insurance is a smart thing to have if for nothing else then the peace of mind it provides us. Because of this we generally do not flinch at buying adequate health, life or automobile insurance policies. However when it comes to renter’s insurance we often balk because we are unaware of the risks, and being ignorant to these risks don’t mean they are less likely to befall us.

Listed below are five of the most common myths that prevent people from seeing the need to purchase a renter’s insurance policy. Each one is followed by the facts that debunk each myth. Hopefully this list will educate you as to how important a renter’s insurance policy can be when it comes to protecting your property and finances.

My Landlord Is Insured So That Will Cover Me

Of course your landlord has an insurance policy but their policy protects their property, not yours. Generally, landlords will have their building insured and will carry a policy to protect them if they are found liable for injury or loss but that is where their policy stops. If someone is hurt on the property due to your fault, you are liable. If your stuff is stolen or damaged, your landlord’s insurance will not cover it.

My Roommate Is Insured So That Will Cover My Stuff Too

While there are policies that cover roommates, most likely the only things that are covered are the ones that are owned by the policy holder. Most renter’s insurance policies do not provide coverage for roommates or even domestic partners, only married couples.

Renter’s Insurance Is Too Expensive For Me To Buy

Insurance can be expensive. However renter’s insurance premiums don’t compare to other insurance policies when it comes to cost. Depending upon the policy you choose you can expect to spend between $150 t0 $350 per year for coverage and these premiums are paid monthly.

I Don’t Have Expensive Things So I Don’t Need Insurance

While you may not need to protect your property from loss, renter’s insurance is not only about your stuff. Sure, you may not have expensive things but if someone trips and falls over your inexpensive furniture, you are still liable. Renter’s insurance can help protect against liability claims as well as replace property.

I Live In A Safe Area

According to the US Department of Justice a person who rents is almost 80 percent more likely to be robbed than someone who owns their own home. Even gated communities suffer from criminal activity. And as far as natural disasters are concerned, no one can tell when and where one will strike.

Insurance is all about risk. Understanding the risks you face is all part of how you learn to protect yourself and your property. Should you feel that renter’s insurance is still not for you so be it, but at least you are making an educated decision, not one based on a myth.

When people are trying to save money the first step they usually take is to eliminate anything they feel is an unnecessary expense. Unfortunately insurance policies, like renter’s insurance and life insurance, are the first to go when push comes to shove. Even if you understand the importance of your insurance policy and the premium is 50 dollars a month, if you don’t have that extra 50 dollars you have to make a cut.

However, most people simply let policies lapse out of financial frustration instead of looking at ways that they can save on their monthly premiums and keep the piece of mind that their policy provides.

But don’t think this is only for people who are facing dire straits. Anyone who is looking to save a bit of money each month should consider the following tips to see which ones can help them keep more money in their pocket.

How To Save On Insurance

Shop around: It sounds simple but how many times do we buy something without comparison shopping first? Not to mention the fact that things may have changed since you last looked at the different policies competing agencies may have to offer.

Pay your premiums all at once: It may be tough to do on a strict budget but if you can pay a year’s worth of premiums at once, or even at six month intervals, your insurance company will most likely give you a nice discount. Plus, that’s one less thing to include in your monthly budget.

Be low risk: Insurance is all about risk. Ask your insurance company what you can do to put yourself in the lowest risk category available. Simply adding a deadbolt lock or keeping up to date fire extinguishers in your home may help you save some extra cash.

Higher deductibles = lower premiums: By increasing the amount you are responsible for in the event of a claim will lower your monthly premiums but be careful. Don’t increase the deductible to a point that you will never be able to meet it on your budget.

Reduce your insurance: Sometimes, less is better. Assess what you really need and make sure those items are covered leaving out the stuff that you can really get by without.

By doing a little extra homework when it comes to your insurance policies you can save a little extra money each month and avoid putting your back up against the wall and having to make tough decisions.

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